Jody Williams: The Power of Global Activism

The fourth PRIO Annual Peace Address was given by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams. Williams is a human rights and peace activist and the founding chair of the Nobel Women’s Initiative. In the 1990s, she became the driving force behind the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. The campaign won the support of more than 1000 NGOs from over 60 countries, and led to the negotiation of the Mine Ban Treaty, which was signed by 122 countries in Ottawa in 1997. In recognition of their efforts, the Norwegian Nobel Committee named Williams and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines as co-recipients of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.